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I changed the name and the look of my blog rather unceremoniously. I didn’t create hype or mystery around the changes because I didn’t actually believe that the soul or the content of this space would change. And I don’t think it has. I haven’t had the opportunity to explain the changes (other than I’d left Australia and therefore this space could no longer be Vanisha’s Life in…Australia), especially the name change and that’s what I’d like to do today.

Why ‘A Life Un-Styled’? Because I was bored, frustrated and increasingly uninspired by the large number of styled (positioned, posed) photos I was seeing on blogs, especially on lifestyle blogs. There seems to be a tendency to style our lives for the camera and for pretty pictures. It was then that I decided that I didn’t want to create and position my life for a photograph. And that’s the philosophy behind this blog, it is in part an attempt to move away from a lifestyle that is styled for photographs towards an everyday life worth photographing.

What does it mean? For this blog it means that I’m not going to set a pretty table once a week just to take a picture and show you and eat on the sofa the rest of the week. It means not just putting out the fine China for the photos but photographing our life as it is. It means living a life that I can be proud to photograph everyday and having a home that is ready to welcome unannounced guests. It’s an effort to create a lifestyle that I love and not a ‘set’ for photos that returns to reality once the camera is gone.

What I’ve learnt so far? Having made this conscious shift, I find myself paying more attention to what’s around me. The half dead flowers on my desk don’t bother me, I think they’re beautiful and worth photographing. I’ve got rid of items that aren’t beautiful and that I don’t love. Think about the things in your home that you wouldn’t want in your photographs, if you feel they aren’t good enough for your photos, what is their place in your life? And if they have a place in your life, why are you taking them out of your photo? I cook and serve my family meals as if I’m entertaining guests, everyday. There are no everyday plates vs fancy plates in my kitchen. They are plates that are beautiful and worth using every single day. Miss 9 came into the bathroom as I was putting on some lipstick, she said “Mummy only puts on lipstick on specials days” and I looked at her and said, “Everyday is a special to me” and that’s what I’ve learnt and really embraced.

Where to from here? For this blog, I think the focus is always going to be on trying to inspire people, having a space that I can be inspired by, connecting and interacting with you and establishing meaningful relationships. I hope it’s a journey that you can follow along and share and grow in, with me. All of this is nothing without all of you.

Do you have a blog/blogging philosophy? Please feel free to share.

Is it something that you share or is it something that’s more private that you use to guide your journey?

14 comments on “Why A Life Un-Styled”

I think many of us in the blogging world are feeling this way, to some degree. After my most recent stay in Paris, I began to question how I run my blog and whether it in any way reflects how I live my life. There can be so much smoke and mirrors in blogging, because we choose what we share. For me, the past few months have been a search for a kind of beautified authenticity – improving parts of my life so that they feel more worth sharing, rather than just concentrating on curating a beautiful closet – because living that way is incomplete and hollow. I found it much easier to do live that way in Paris, where we had less space and were forced to focus; in North America there are so many distractions and it takes more effort. At this point, for me, it's still a work in progress, but one that I think is worthwhile. And for what it's worth, your unstyled life just as beautiful as any styled one I've seen 🙂xox,Cee

I find that's a very mindful way of approaching life! Thanks for sharing this Vanisha. It is very inspiring. Since you changed the blog name and first shared that philosophy, I found myself paying more attention to what I choose to have around me and why. Moving from one country to another (or selling a big home in the suburbs for an apartment in the city) helps put things into perspective and makes it easier to start living the life unstyled 😉

I think blogging is about blending reality and fantasy whilst maintaining the balance between the two. And keeping some things private, to yourself. However, at the end, having a blog is about creating a space you love, the one that makes you happy as an author.

Hi Vanisha, I love the new title, it gives us a picture of how down to earth you are eventhough you have achieved so much. You are always an inspiration! Thanks for stopping by…Wishing you a productive week ahead!

I love this philosophy. There are far too many styled and too-perfect-to-be-true blogs out there. I think readers appreciate honesty and reality, which doesn't make it any less interesting, or beautiful.

So…. I've kept this post open in a tab for a few days. Your posts often make me think and make me want to give back a thoughtful reply. Don't know if this will qualify as that, but I love the new title of your blog and the purpose behind it.

To me, by not creating just a "blog-worthy" picture for a post if that not really how it is, seems to spur you on to have a more beautiful life in general, and that's something worth pursuing. It makes me pause and think where my life can benefit from a little thoughtfulness to make things more mindful.